World-Class 6-Hour Cape Cod Bay Fishing Trip

Atlantic Bonito

Atlantic bonito are like mini tuna - fast, powerful, and a blast to catch. These streamlined speedsters average 2-5 pounds but can top 10. You'll find them chasing bait schools near the surface from July through September. Bonito are lightning-fast, hitting lures hard and making blistering runs. They're a favorite for light tackle and fly fishing enthusiasts. Look for feeding frenzies marked by birds diving and bait showering on the surface. Fast-moving metal lures or small trolling feathers work great. A local trick is to cast well ahead of a moving school and retrieve quickly. Bonito make excellent sashimi or can be grilled like tuna. With their speed and acrobatics, hooking one of these "little tunny" is always exciting.

Atlantic Mackerel

Atlantic mackerel are small but mighty, and a key part of Cape Cod's ecosystem. These silvery speedsters usually run 1-2 pounds and show up in huge schools from May through October. You'll find them near the surface, often marked by diving birds. Mackerel are fun on ultralight tackle, hitting small lures and flies with abandon. They're also prized as bait for bigger game like striped bass and bluefin tuna. To catch them, try small metal jigs or sabiki rigs. A local tip: when you find a school, keep a few in your livewell as fresh bait. Mackerel are also delicious eaten fresh - try them grilled or smoked. With their importance as forage and their sporting qualities, these little rockets are always welcome visitors to the bay.

Black Sea Bass

Black sea bass are a fun, tasty catch in Cape Cod Bay. These chunky bottom-dwellers average 1-3 pounds but can reach up to 8. You'll find them around rocky structure and wrecks in 30-120 feet of water from late spring through fall. Sea bass put up a good scrap on light tackle and are excellent eating. They're aggressive feeders, so jigs and bait rigs work well. For the best action, fish the tide changes when sea bass feed most actively. A local trick is to use squid or cut fish for bait - sea bass can't resist it. These fish have a neat ability to change sex as they grow, starting as females and becoming males. With their tasty white meat and sporty fight, sea bass are always a hit with anglers of all skill levels.

Bluefish

Bluefish (Pomatomus saltatrix) Fish Description

Bluefish is a common game fish that is known for its delicious taste. Bluefish is a warm-water migratory species living in the Atlantic Ocean from Nova Scotia to Argentina and Spain to southern Africa. In South Africa, the Bluefish is known as Shad or Elf; in New Zealand and Australia, it is called Tailor. Bluefish are seasonal visitors to Cape Cod waters, arriving in mid-June and remaining until mid-October. They spend the winter in warmer waters from North Carolina to Florida's tip.

The Bluefish has a moderately proportioned body; one of its distinctive features is its broad and corked tail and its spiny first dorsal and pectoral fins that are usually folded back in a grove. The Bluefish is generally grayish to blue-green in its dorsal area, whereas its belly and lower sides fade to white.

It is a voracious predator with a large mouth and flat, triangular teeth that are strong, sharp, and prominent teeth.

Bluefish Diet

As aggressively strong feeders, the Bluefish have a complex menu of prey. They can chase after schools of forage fish owing to their fast swimming speed. They usually go on a feeding frenzy by attacking these schools of fish even after having satisfied their stomachs. They especially like sardine-like fish, Menhaden, Weakfish, Grunt, Anchovy, Squid, and Shrimp. In return, the Bluefish serve as food for bigger fish like Dolphin, Billfish, Sharks, and Tuna, among others.

Bluefish Size

Commonly, the Bluefish can grow up to 7 inches; they weigh up to 40 lbs. However, most of the Bluefish population reaches only up to 20 lbs.

Interesting Facts About the Bluefish 

• The Bluefish is the only remaining living species from the Pomatomidae family. It used to be grouped with Gnomefish, but the latter were separated.
• Lophar miocaenus from Southern California is an extinct relative of the Bluefish from the Late Miocene Period.
• Bluefish are reported to live up to 9 years.
• The Bluefish are cannibalistic, and they sometimes eat their own young.
• The Bluefish are known for churning water like a washing machine, attacking schools in shallow depths. This is called “Bluefish Blitz.”
• Bluefish is a common host to many parasites; in particular, it is often inhabited by the parasite named Philometra saltatrix, which is found in the ovaries of the fish.
• Despite being high in omega-3, children and adult women are warned against consuming Bluefish due to its significant mercury content.
• When properly prepared, bluefish is extremely good to eat, with mild, flaky meat, though larger fish (those weighing more than 10 pounds) have a stronger flavor than their smaller brethren.

Bluefish — Fishing Techniques

To reel in lots of Bluefish, you can use the following harvesting methods: trawls, hook and line, and gillnet. Note that you can only use a circle hook and nothing else; recreational anglers can only capture up to three pieces of Bluefish per day (no minimum size). As for artificial lures or flies, you can use only up to a maximum of two treble hooks. Be careful when handling Bluefish since they can bite you, leading to some serious wounds. Oily fish, such as eels, make excellent bait for bluefish. However, almost any type of baitfish can be used. When learning how to catch bluefish, another option is to use cut bait. Try chunks shaped like a small lure.

You can best fish for Bluefish from tidal rivers, bays, and sandy harbors during summer. In late summer, small, juvenile bluefish known as "baby blues" or "snappers" can be caught in sandy harbors, bays, and tidal rivers. This is an excellent fish for young and inexperienced anglers to catch. Bluefish are frequently caught using gillnets in the commercial bluefish fishery, but they can also be nabbed using a hook, line, or trawl gear.

A permit must be secured to catch Bluefish in commercial fisheries. Some states also impose a specific catch limit for commercial and recreational fishing.

Bluefish Habitat and Distribution

As a marine pelagic fish species, the Bluefish generally inhabit subtropical and temperate waters all around the globe. Most thrive along the continental shelves of America (except in northern South America and south Florida), Australia, and Southeast Asia. Interestingly, the Bluefish is also not found on the north side of the Pacific Ocean.

Typically, anglers find school of Bluefish in various habitats, including brackish waters, estuaries, rock headlands, surf beaches, or above the continental shelf. From time to time, the Bluefish migrate to open waters in schools.

Bluefish fishery management employs a bag limit for recreational fishing and an annual quota distributed to states for commercial fisheries to avoid overfishing.

Striped Bass

Striped bass are the crown jewel of Cape Cod fishing. These powerful predators can reach over 50 pounds, though most catches run 10-30 pounds. Look for stripers around structure, rips, and bait schools from May through October. They're often found in shallow water early and late in the day. Stripers put up an epic fight on light tackle and make for excellent eating. Live eels or chunked mackerel are top baits, but artificials like swimming plugs work well too. For a real thrill, try topwater lures at dawn or dusk when bass are feeding aggressively. A local secret is to fish the outgoing tide at creek mouths - stripers stack up to ambush bait getting swept out. With their size, strength and table quality, striped bass are the ultimate gamefish in these waters.